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September 12, 2010

Love, Speeches & Slideshows

There's nothing quite like being cozied up in the bed of a just-cleaned room on a Sunday afternoon, with the natural sunlight pouring through the window and the vanilla-scented candle glowing. I finally, finally, finally have a few hours to relax. Man, I've missed this feeling; you know, being able to lie down, read a book, let your thoughts recollect and organize. I don't know about you, but this is something I love to do. And since this is my last week before I take off to Europe, I'm savoring every second of it right now.

For those of you who don't know, I took part in a wedding yesterday. It was an absolutely beautiful, wonderful, and emotional day. Last February my best friend asked me to be her Maid of Honour, and I gladly accepted. And as we all know, with this honour comes a speech! Believe it or not, I love giving them. I love being up there and knowing that I have everyone's attention, even if it's only for a few short minutes. I wish that what I had to say about speeches ended there. See, I have a bittersweet relationship with them...brainstorming and writing out a few drafts is no problem. But the things I have to experience minutes right before and during my speech is absolute TURMOIL. Here, I'm trying to enjoy my mashed potatoes, chicken bbq, and chocolate Skor trifle, but I can't seem to swallow a bite knowing that I'm about to spill my heart in front of 260 people. And as I'm saying the speech, oh boy...I thought my heart was going to beat itself up my throat. And honestly, I don't think it's possible for a person to talk any faster. Geez. Oh, and did I mention the part where I can't seem to catch a decent breath? I unfortunately only started getting a hang of the public-speaking thing during my last two sentences. But, I'm proud to admit with full confidence that I did my best; and the cooperative roars of laughter from the tables, and the compliments I received after the reception were great reassurances for me and my self esteem.

I know that alot of you weren't at this wedding, so I have decided to share not only my speech, but also my slideshow with you! So if you wish, enjoy!

"Good evening everyone and thank you for coming today to witness this wonderful celebration! Before I bring you all into the inner-workings of my heart, I would just like to introduce myself. My name is Jenni Froese. If that doesn’t ring a bell, my parents are Herman and Inge Froese. And if you’re interested, I’m sure you can ask around and find at least four of my relatives at each table.
Kayla, I want to thank you for giving me the pleasure of being your Maid of Honour. It has been an amazing ride seeing you transform from being 'just engaged' to 'just married'.

Kayla and I have been pretty much inseperable since the day Auntie Shirl brought her into this world. Being first cousins of the same age, we saw each other ALL the time: birthdays, Christmas’s, family gatherings, school, play-dates, and church every Sunday. We had one of those relationships being 'Hey…Kayla’s here, but where’s Jenni?' or 'Hey Jenni, where’d your other half run off to?' Ask anyone.

Being attached at the hip, we knew each other like the back of our hands. Something I always knew at a young age was that Kayla has always been ready for marriage. For example, I quickly learnt that the phrase 'let’s play Barbies!' actually meant 'Let’s plan another wedding!' And when it came to putting food on the table, all the times Kayla and I got together to make supper, consisted of Kayla scurrying around the kitchen cooking up a storm while I lazed around with my feet on the table indulging in all of her AMAZING culinary masterpieces. So Danny, congratulations, you have now replaced me as Chef Kayla’s official food taste-tester.
Speaking of Danny, Kayla had her eye on this man for quite some time now. I have distant memories from many years ago of Kayla just BEAMING everytime she’d spot Danny through the crowd at the Grunthal Fair…or make that EVERY Grunthal Fair. There was also one summer where Kayla and I were lying covert in the school field with our cameras in full zoom, snapping photos of Danny skateboarding at the dropzone. I have the pictures to prove it! Come talk to me after and I’ll gladly hand them out! ;)

But, my all-time personal favorite memory was the time Kayla ran up to me one day in high school beaming from ear to ear with excitement. 'So, last night Derek invited DANIEL GOERTZEN over to work out and lift weights in the basement, and Daniel looked SOOOO good.' At first we all believed that Kayla seeing Daniel lifting 250 pound weights…give or take, was a one time thing. You know, being in the right place at the VERY right time, or just a really good coincidence. But this started becoming a weekly occurrence and Danny eventually began returning Kayla’s doe-eyed gazes and the dropped jaws transformed into flirtatious smiles, speaking greetings of 'hello’s' and 'how are you’s?' As time passed, we were all convinced that Danny’s intentions for coming over were more than just to spend time with Derek bonding over sweat and dumbbells. He had his eye on a new Wiebe, a female Wiebe, a…Kayla Wiebe. After Danny had received permission from Kayla’s Dad to date her, I thought Kayla was happy. And for her to be any happier seemed way out of this world. To imagine her beautiful smile any bigger seemed physically impossible. But seeing her now, surrounded by so many of her family and friends who love her, and now being married to the man of her dreams, I know with full confidence that God has done incredible things.

Daniel, I want to thank you for taking such great care of Kayla all of these years, you have made her so happy. God couldn’t have done a better job in matching up the two most amazing people. I’m so very happy for you both and I wish you all the best in your married life together. Love you guys, and God bless!"

5 comments:

LOVE IT!!!! Jenni, that was a great speech! I wish I could have been there to hear it in person!!! You gave a great speech at my wedding too!!! I don't have time right now to watch your slideshow, but I totally will tomorrow!I love you and am glad that you'll get a little rest now!!!!!